时间：07/18/2026 07/19/2026
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：龙示林
佛法修行
谁偷了摩尼宝珠
一位威仪庠序的比丘沿路托钵，来到穿珠师的家门口，技艺精湛的穿珠师正全神贯注、战战竞竞地为国王穿著稀世珍贵的摩尼珠。穿珠师蓦然抬头，见比丘托钵立于家门，急忙起身迎请比丘入内，旋即准备饮食供养。此时，一只大鹅摇摇晃晃地走进屋内，见到地上的摩尼珠犹如一团赤肉，长颈一伸，巨喙一啄，一团赤肉转眼即入鹅腹。
穿珠师恭敬供养比丘后，欲继续穿珠的工作，却遍寻不着摩尼珠，大惊失色：「我家贫穷，如今丢失了国王珍贵的宝珠，将如何偿还？」
「还我珠来！」心急如焚、不分青红皂白的穿珠师大声地对比丘说着。
「此珠为鹅所吞食，我今若告知实情，穿珠师必杀此鹅以取珠，我该如何用计，令免此患？」比丘内心不断地思忖。思惟既定，比丘说道：「为护他命，唯有以己身相代，除此别无他法。我今以此护戒之因，他日必成解脱圣果。」穿珠师听了，仍不明就里，大声威胁：「快把宝珠拿来！否则对你不利。」「我没拿你的宝珠」比丘从容地回答。「这里除了你，更无他人在此，难道是别人偷去了宝珠！」
穿珠师边说边将大门关上。比丘顿时陷入绝境，犹如误入重围的孤鹿，求救无门。然而只见比丘面无惧色，从容整衣以待。穿珠师见状：「你想与我决斗！」「不，我不会与你搏斗。我只是遵循比丘即使身受巨苦，临终时仍不露身形的教诫，故先行整衣，以免遭你笞打时衣不蔽体。」
见到比丘坚定沈着的神情，穿珠师心想：「不以棒棍相逼，是不可能要回宝珠了。」、
「啪！啪！啪！……」一阵棒打如雨点般落在比丘身上。
「宝珠在那儿？快拿出来！」
「我没拿你的宝珠！」身受巨痛的比丘仍旧如前回答着。
穿珠师见比丘宁死亦不肯说出宝珠去向，不觉懊恼悲泣地向比丘顶礼说道：「我今虽扑打你，内心却深受痛苦的折磨，一者遗失宝珠，深恐国王降罪。二则为寻回宝珠而责打比丘，身造恶业。你是出家人，应断贪爱心，快还我宝珠，如此能令你不再受杖打之苦，亦让我免去国王的责罚及杖责比丘之罪。」
比丘心生悲悯地说：「出家人捡拾破旧布为衣，乞讨为食，树下为家，以此为足。对于宝珠，实无贪取之心，为何你一昧将我当作偷贼？」
「不用多说！」软硬兼施仍不得珠的穿珠师，更加瞋怒地杖打比丘，滴滴的鲜血从口鼻淌落地面。一旁无知的大鹅，见地上一摊鲜血，立即上前啄食。气极败坏的珠师，举取手中木棒，向鹅一击。「大鹅现在如何？」顾不得自身累累伤痕的比丘急声问道。「鹅是生、是死，与你何干？」穿珠师不悦地反问。比丘自行匍匐至鹅处，见鹅已死，伤心地说：「我忍受杖打的苦毒，只为让鹅得以存活。如今我命未绝，鹅却先我而死，原本希望护鹅命而得解脱的功德已无法成就。」
「一鹅之死，区区小事，为何让你如此伤心悲切？」穿珠师大感不解。比丘答言：「往昔佛作菩萨时，为救度众生，不惜身命以救鸽；我今以恳切敬慎的心，欲学菩萨舍身护生的行止，愿牺牲自己的性命以保鹅命。怎知你一怒竟将鹅杀害，令我心愿不得成就。」穿珠师听完，犹不懂话中端倪，恳请比丘再为详说。
「先前你入内准备饮食，不慎将摩尼宝珠拂落地面。宝珠映我赤色袈裟而成赤色，大鹅无知，将宝珠误为赤肉，即便吞食。我心思惟：『你为取回宝珠，势必杀害此鹅。』因此为护鹅命，宁身受苦痛逼切，终不愿说出原委。」比丘娓娓道来。
穿珠师取刀开剖鹅腹，一见宝珠，当下嚎啕大哭：「您为护鹅命，不惜舍身，而我失珠情急无智，却杖责比丘，实为愚痴。」于是向比丘五体投地礼拜忏悔，并且表示：「您清净的行止多么令人赞叹，坚定的戒行益发使人敬仰！为护鹅命虽身受极苦，仍坚持护戒无有毁犯，此事更是难能稀有！」
忏悔后的穿珠师，恭送比丘还至住处，对其舍身护生持戒的慈悲行止，更生起无比的信敬尊重心。
Date: 07/18/2026 07/19/2026
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Talk
Who Stole the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel?
A dignified monk was going on his alms round and arrived at the home of a skilled jeweler. The jeweler was concentrating intently on threading an exceedingly precious wish-fulfilling jewel (mani jewel) for the king.
Suddenly looking up and seeing the monk standing at his door with an alms bowl, the jeweler immediately rose and respectfully invited him inside. He then went to prepare food as an offering.
At that moment, a large goose waddled into the house. Seeing the mani jewel lying on the ground and mistaking it for a piece of red meat, it stretched out its long neck, pecked once with its beak, and swallowed the jewel in an instant.
After respectfully serving the monk, the jeweler returned to continue his work. To his horror, the jewel was nowhere to be found.
“My family is poor. If I lose the king’s precious jewel, how will I ever repay it?” he cried in alarm.
“Return my jewel!” the jeweler shouted at the monk in desperation.
The monk thought to himself:
“The jewel has been swallowed by the goose. If I reveal the truth, the jeweler will surely kill the goose to recover it. How can I protect its life?”
After careful reflection, he resolved:
“To save its life, I must endure this suffering myself. There is no other way. By protecting life and keeping my precepts intact, I shall one day attain liberation.”
The jeweler, not understanding the situation, continued to threaten him:
“Give me back the jewel, or you will suffer for it!”
“I did not take your jewel,” replied the monk calmly.
“There was no one else here. If you did not take it, who did?”
As he spoke, the jeweler shut the door. The monk was trapped with no possibility of escape, like a lone deer surrounded by hunters. Yet he showed no fear. Calmly, he adjusted his robes and sat quietly.
Seeing this, the jeweler asked:
“Are you preparing to fight me?”
“No,” replied the monk. “I would never fight you. The Buddha instructed monks that even when enduring great suffering or approaching death, they should maintain proper appearance. I am merely arranging my robes so that if you beat me, I will not be indecently exposed.”
The monk’s composure only deepened the jeweler’s frustration.
“If I do not use force, I will never get the jewel back,” he thought.
Then the blows began.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The staff rained down upon the monk’s body.
“Where is the jewel? Give it back!”
“I did not take your jewel,” the monk replied again despite the intense pain.
Seeing that the monk would rather die than reveal the jewel’s whereabouts, the jeweler eventually broke down in tears and bowed before him.
“Although I strike you, my heart is tormented. First, I fear punishment from the king for losing the jewel. Second, by beating a monk, I am creating evil karma. You are a renunciant and should be free from greed. Please return the jewel. Then your suffering will end, and I will be spared punishment and wrongdoing.”
Filled with compassion, the monk answered:
“A monk wears discarded cloth, lives on alms, and dwells beneath trees. Such things are enough for him. Why would I desire a precious jewel? Why do you insist on treating me as a thief?”
“Enough talking!”
Still unable to recover the jewel, the jeweler became even angrier and resumed beating him. Blood flowed from the monk’s mouth and nose onto the ground.
Nearby, the unsuspecting goose saw the blood and approached to peck at it. Furious beyond reason, the jeweler seized his stick and struck the bird.
“How is the goose now?” asked the monk urgently, forgetting his own wounds.
“Whether it lives or dies is none of your concern,” replied the jeweler.
The monk painfully crawled over to the bird and found it dead.
Filled with sorrow, he said:
“I endured all this suffering only so that the goose might live. Yet before my own life ends, the goose has died. The merit I hoped to gain by protecting its life can no longer be fulfilled.”
The jeweler was bewildered.
“A goose has died. Why are you so heartbroken?”
The monk replied:
“In ages past, when the Buddha was still practicing the Bodhisattva path, he sacrificed his own life to save a dove. With sincere reverence, I wished to follow the Bodhisattva’s example of protecting life, even at the cost of my own. I was willing to die so that this goose might live. Yet in your anger you killed it, and my wish could not be completed.”
Still confused, the jeweler asked the monk to explain further.
The monk then said:
“When you went inside to prepare food, you accidentally brushed the mani jewel onto the ground. The jewel reflected the red color of my robe and appeared like a piece of red meat. The goose, not understanding, swallowed it. I knew that if I revealed this, you would kill the goose to retrieve the jewel. Therefore, to protect its life, I chose to endure pain and suffering rather than tell you the truth.”
Hearing this, the jeweler immediately cut open the goose’s belly and found the jewel inside.
At once he burst into tears.
“You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save a goose, while I, blinded by panic and ignorance, beat a holy monk. How foolish I have been!”
He prostrated himself before the monk and sincerely repented.
“Your purity of conduct is truly admirable. Your unwavering observance of the precepts inspires the deepest respect. To endure such terrible suffering in order to protect a single life, without ever violating your principles—this is extraordinarily rare and noble.”
After repenting, the jeweler respectfully escorted the monk back to his residence.
From that day forward, he developed profound faith, reverence, and admiration for the monk’s compassion, self-sacrifice, and steadfast commitment to protecting life and upholding the precepts.
